Revolving pay plate for banks and ticket offices



Oct. 28, 1969 H. SCHLAEFLI 3,474,745

REVOLVING PAY PLATE FOR BANKS AND TICKET OFFICES Filed Aug 6, 1968 Ham Sic-Mae Q} United States Patent 3,474,745 REVOLVING PAY PLATE FOR BANKS AND TICKET OFFICES Hans Schlaefli, Waldeck, Munchenbuchsee, Switzerland Filed Aug. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 750,590 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Aug. 15, 1967,

' 11,436/ 67 Int. Cl. E06b 7/32 U.S. Cl. 109-19 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The revolving pay plate has two work surfaces that can be dropped to form two compartments separated by a partition wall that does not drop and which, together with two side walls and two stationary strips, forms, between the counter level and the lower edge of the safety-glass window, a barrier against weapons for all angular positions of the revolving plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION selves highly useful, they have the disadvantage of being limited to the transference of a few relatively small objects, such as coins, a few bank notes, or a railroad ticket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the invention is to provide a revolving pay plate of which the work surfaces can be dropped from their normal height and of which the one or more partitions for dividing up the pay plate'surface do not drop with the working surfaces.

1 Since the partitionsusually there is only a single, central partition do not drop, the clerk or teller cannot be threatened by a weapon, such as a gun, when the pay plate is in a fully rotated position; because the partition occupies, or largely occupies, the space between the level of the work surfaces and the under edge of the protective glass window located between the purchaser and the clerk.

In a particularly advantageous form of the invention, additional walls improve the degree of the clerks safety for all angular positions of the revolving pay plate.

As will be apparent from the ensuing detailed description of the invention, the revolving pay plate can transfer larger objects than is possible with pay plates having nondropping work surfaces, so that the pay plate of the invention is suitable not only for the counters of ticket windows, for example, but also for banks, for instance, where larger sums of money and valuables of some size are transferred.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be described, with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the revolving pay plate of the invention in its normal, fully rotated position, with the work surfaces in their raised position;

FIGURE 2 corresponds to FIGURE 1, but with the work surfaces dropped;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view similar to FIGURE 1, except that the plate has been revolved through 90;

FIGURE 4 is a view in cross section taken along line IV-IV of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is a view in cross section taken along line V-V of FIGURE 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With particular reference to FIGURE 1, the revolving pay plate 2 of the invention is mounted in the countersuch as that in a bank or ticket office-between the clerk and the public, the area behind the counter being protected by a safety-glass window 1.

The pay plate comprises a plate 3 mounted in the counter surface, and usually flush therewith, and the revolving plate 4 itself.

The mechanism for automatically revolving the plate 4 through is controlled by a hand lever 5. This mechanism being fully described in Swiss Patent No. 404,130, it will not be further mentioned, since it forms no part of the present invention.

The revolving plate includes two work surfaces 6 and 7, which latter, when not dropped, are flush with the counter surface.

The revolving plate 4 incorporates a central partition 8 and two segment-shaped side walls 9 and 10 which extend at right angles to the partition and are inclined with respect to the counter surface, so that three sides of eac work surface are rectangular.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the work surfaces 6 and 7 can be dropped in their own plane, parallel to the partition 8, to form two cavity-like compartments which'have as their walls the partition 8, the side walls 9 and 10, and the outer wall 11, which latter is rigid with the revolving plate 4, and as their bottoms the respective work surfaces '6 and 7. v Bundles of money, documents, and other valuable objects can be placed in the compartments and safely revolved underneath the stationary safety-glass window 1. The partition 8 and the walls 9, 10 and 11 do not drop. After the work surfaces 6 and 7 are dropped, the revolving plate is turned through 180 in the usual manner by operating the lever 5.

In FIGURE 3 is shown the plate 4 after it has turned through approximately one-half of its 180 rotation, the work surfaces 6 and 7 not having been dropped. Made visible by this rotation are two edge strips 20 and 21, which are mounted on the counter surface or on the plate 3, and are as high as the walls 9 and 10 and/ or the parti tion 8. The edge strips are laterally supported by blocks 22 and form, together with the side walls 9 and 10, a circular shield above the level of the counter, when the plate 4 is in the position shown in FIGURE 3. The shield is divided by the partition 8. V

Thus, no matter what the position of the revolving plate 4, there is never an opening between the counter and the window 1 through which the clerk can be threatened by a gun or other weapon.

The edge strips 20 and 21 are therefore as important to the protection of the clerk as the partition 8 or the walls 9 and 10.

The arrangement for dropping the work surfaces is shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, and includes a vertical rod 30 embodying along the upper part of its length a slot 34 that receives the lower part of the partition 8, and slides thereon when the work surfaces are dropped and raised. The rod is supported for up and down movement in bearings 31, and connected to the work surfaces by cantilevers 32 and 33, which support respective ones of the work surfaces. The bearings 31 also mount the entire plate 4 for turning. The lower end of the rod 30 has a cam follower 41 which rides on the surface of a cam 35 eccentrically mounted for rotation about an axis 40, for

3 the purpose of dropping and raising the work surfaces, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. In accordance with the invention, the cam can be rotated in steps of 180 by a motoric device 42 which may be embodied, for example, by 'a hand crank, by a handor motor-operated piston, by an electric motor, or by some other suitable means.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, the scope of, and the protection afforded to, the invention is limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A revolving pay plate for mounting in a counter for the purpose described, including at least two horizontal 'work surfaces, means for mounting said work surfaces for lowering the latter from their normal position and again raising them, at least one vertical partition projecting above said work surfaces when the latter are in their normal position for separating at least one said work surface from another, means for mounting said work surfaces and partition for rotation in predetermined angular steps, and wherein the improvement comprises means for mounting said partition to hold the latter stationary when said work surfaces are lowered or raised.

2. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 1, including an electric motor for lowering and raising said work surfaces.

3. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 1, including a piston for lowering and raising said work surfaces.

4. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 1, wherein said work surfaces in their normal position are flush with the counter surface, and including side Walls that project above said work surfaces when the latter are in their normal position and revolve therewith and which define two sides of each said work surface, and wherein the improvement comprises a plurality of stationary, non-rotating wall means projecting above said work surfaces in their normal position and located adjacent a part of the edges of said work surfaces, said wall means cooperating with said side walls so as to form therewith a shield extending above said work surfaces in their normal position when the latter are rotating.

5. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 4 wherein there are two, separate, adjacent said work surfaces, and a single said partition, which latter is positioned between said two work surfaces, and wherein the improvement comprises that said partition, walls means, and side walls are all of approximately the same height.

6. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 5, wherein each said angular step is 180 and said wall means and side walls are each two in number and each said wall means and side wall incorporates at least one arcuate face of such a length that said shield formed thereby is continuous and circular when the work surfaces have been rotated through approximately 90.

7. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 6, wherein the revolving pay plate is to be mounted in a counter having a protective transparent window with an opening between the lower edge thereof and the counter level, and the revolving pay plate is to be mounted in the counter below the lower window-edge, and said partition, two side walls, and two wall means are of such a height as to prevent a weapon from being used through the opening.

8. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 7, including an outer, vertical circular wall encompassing the revolvable part of the pay plate, a bottom for said outer circular wall, bearing means rotatably mounting said bottom, a central vertical rod mounted concentrically within said bearing means for vertical sliding movement and projecting above and below said bottom, means connecting said rod to each said work surface for supporting the latter, and means for controlling the downward and upward movement of said rod.

9. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 8, wherein said means for controlling the movement of said rod is a cam.

10. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 9, wherein said two side walls are associated with said outer circular wall at diametrically opposite positions thereof and a face of each said side wall extends perpendicularly to the counter length when the pay plate is in a completely rotated position, another face of each said two side walls and an edge of each said two work surfaces together define a complete circle concentric with and of approximately the same diameter as that of said outer circular wall, and said partition extends along a diameter of said circle from one said side wall to the other, parallel to the counter length when the pay plate is in a completely rotated position, and downwards so as to form two compartments within said outer circular side wall, and further including a longitudinal slot in said rod for accepting the lower part of said partition.

11. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 10, wherein said two wall means are mounted on the counter.

12. The revolving pay plate as defined in claim 10, wherein said two side walls and two wall means are mutually coextensive over an arc of at least when the pay plate is in a completely rotated position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,342,673 6/1920 Hecht 109--19 1,804,776 5/1931 James 109-19 3,077,243 2/1963 Buros 109--l9 FOREIGN PATENTS 15,378 12/1911 Denmark. 404,130 6/ 1966 Switzerland. 2,036 7/ 1888 Switzerland.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner I. K. BELL, Assistant Examiner 

